Grain cleaning device



Aug. 3, 1937. E. W. DOUGLASS GRAIN CLEANING DEVICE Filed Oct. 12, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 E. WTDazg/aas ,INVENTOR ATTORN EY5 Patented Aug. 3, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT} oFFicE- 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in grain cleaning devices, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of. my invention is to provide a grain cleaning device which sifts the grain in a manner similar to the hand operated pan sifter.

A further object is to provide a grain cleaning device in which the sieves may be shaken smoothly so that they will not cause the grain disposed therein to jump.

A further object is to provide a grain cleaning device having a construction which will eliminate any tendency to shake the screens jerkily even after prolonged use.

A further object is to provide a grain cleaning device in which the sieves may be readily removed and replaced by other sieves thereby adapting the device for use in cleaning different kinds of grain. H

A further object is to provide a grain cleaning device in which the degree of vibrations of the sieves may be changed.

A. further object is to provide a grain cleaning device in which only the vibrations extending in definite directions are utilized for vibrating the sieves.

A further object is to cause the motor to gyrate and to so mount the motor in part on the casing as to enable damping the impulses in one direction and resolving them into what are herein called drumhead vibrations, and taking full advantage of the impulses in a direction substantially at right angles and resolving them into i reciprocations, the vibrations keeping the meshes of the sieves from filling up and the reciprocations imparting the necessary shaking 'to the sieves to keep themateri'al moving.

A further object is to provide a spring suspension both for the sieve-casing and the fan "motor and to unbalance the motor shaft so as to cause the motor togyrate and set up vibrations in the casing to shake its sieves.

Other objects and advantages will appear in .45 the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device, Figure 2 is an end elevation of my device, Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of mydevice taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4is an end elevation of my device, a por- 28 movably support the casing ll.

5. The upright members 2 to 4, inclusive, have their top ends connected with side bars 6 and end barsl. The upright members and bars may be secured together in any suitable manner such as by bolts or rivets 8. Stifiening plates 9 may also be connected with the upright members and bars for giving the supporting structure greater rigidity.

Cross-members l0, H, and [2 are connected with upright members adjacent the lower ends thereof by any suitable means such as rivets l3.

A cross-member or housing supporting bar It is positioned between the upright members 2 and-3 andis adapted for being connected therewith in any suitable manner. 7

A hopper l5 having inclined side portions is carried by the supporting structure and is provided with. an opening l6. in the bottom thereof as shown in Figure 3'. A movable suspension casing. [-1 is disposed within the supporting structure and is positioned beneath the hopper IS. The casing l1 comprises a pair of spaced-apart wall. portions I8 which may be made of sheet material and have the contour shown in Figure 1. The spaced-apart wall portions l8 are provided with reinforced end portions 19 which are connected together by tie rods 20.

The casing I! has an end wall 2| which is cut away for providing an air inlet opening 22 and a grain outlet opening 23. The walls l8 are fur-, ther provided with projecting portions 24 which extend over the cross-member l2.

iilach of. the wall portions I8 is provided with a flange portion 25 such as an angle bar which maybe connectedfitherewith by any suitable means such. as rivets 26.

A pair of resilient or spring members 21 is provided for supporting an end of the casing ll.

,Each of the resilient members 21 has one end connected with a flange portion 25 and the other of resilient or springfmembers 28'is provided for supporting the other end of the casing. Each of the resilient members 28 has one end connected with one of the flange portions 25 and the other end connected with a cross-member of the supporting frame. The spring members 21 and.

i The upright members 4 and 5 are provided with flange members 29 fixedly connected therewith. The flange members 29 are each provided with a rod member 38 having an end connected therewith and slidably extending through an opening in one of the resilient members 28. The other end of the rod isthreaded for receiving a threaded member, such as a nut 3|. Ex-

pansion springs 32 and 33 are mounted on the rod 38. The expansion spring 32 is positioned between the nut 3| and. the spring member 28 and the expansion spring 33 is positioned be-' tween the spring member 28 and the flange,

member 29.

A motor housing or wind box 34 is movably supported by spring members 35 which, in turn, are carried by the cross-member M of the supporting structure I. While I have shown the housing as being mounted on coil springs, it will be understood that the housing may be movably mounted in suspensionv by any suitable means. The housing 34 is of a length substantially equal to the distance betweenthe spaced-apart wall portions H3. 'The housing is provided with a pair of projecting portions 36 fixedly connected therewith. A pair of. actuating arms 31 is provided. Each of the arms 31 has an end connected with one of the projecting portions '36 and the other end connected with one of the spring members 28. The housing 34 is provided with a rounded side 38 and flat top and bottom sides 39 and 40. The interior side 4| of the housing 34 is open and substantially in alignment with the opening 22 of the casing H for providing communication between the housing 34 and the casing. The ends 42 of the housing are provided with openings 43 therein. A motor 44 is mounted within the housing 34 and is provideclwith' projecting shaft portions 45.

A member 50 is fixedly mounted on each of the shaft portions 45and comprises a pair of diametrically opposed. arm portions 5|. and 52.

A fan blade 46, preferably of the paddle type, may be connected with one of the arm portions, such as the arm portion 5|. 1 A weight member 53' may be adjustably'connected with the other arm'portion 52 by any suitable means, such as a set screw 54, so. that the distance between the weight member and the shaft may be varied.

The weight members are positioned on the same sides of the shaft portions.. If so desired, a plurality of fan blades may be connected with each of the shaft portions. I 7

It will be noted by. referring to Figure 3 of the drawings that a plurality of inclined screens or sieves 41 are disposed within the casing l1 and extend between the walls l8 thereof. The sieves are positioned one above the other and are heldin [spaced-apart positions'by means of strip members 48 connected with the walls I8. The sieves are slidably disposed between the strip members 48 with which they are in frictional engagement and are thereby held against displacement while the device is in operation.

The wall portions l8 have their lower edges providedwith flange portions 49 for supporting a screen or sieve 54 positioned beneath the screens 41 and extending between the wall portions I8. The screen 54 is oppositely inclined with respect to the inclined screens 41 and extends to the ends of the projecting portions of the wall portions l8. It will be noted on referring to Figure 3 that the end of the lowermost screen 41 adjacent the wall 2| is positioned just above the opening 22'from which place it ,extendsdownwardly in an inclined plane. It will thus be seen that the lowermost screen 4 1 is positioned in the path of a wind current generated by the fan 46 and forced through the opening 22 of the casing H. The remainder of the screens 41 are substantially parallel to the lowermost screen 41 and consequently will also be positioned in the path of the wind current.

The motor 44 is in communication With a source of electricity by means of conductors 5| connected therewith and extending through an opening in the housing 34;

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The electric current is first turned on for causing the motor to be put into operation for rotating the shaft 45, thereby causing the fans 46 and the weights 53 to be rotated. The

-weights. 53, being heavier than the fans 46 1 has gyratory impulses which are used in agitating the seeds.

But it is not desiredto utilize these impulses just as they occur, but rather to control them in such a way that they will act on the sievecasing |1 chiefly in two directions. At first the gyratory impulses will be evident by a slight compressing and expanding action of the springs 35 (Fig. 4). Naturally this action increases as the motor speeds up.

It is easy to see that the springs 35 afford an outlet, so to speak, for a portion of the gyratory impulses of the motor which are thereby concentrated'on the springs and are resolved into a bouncing motion in the vertical direction. Since the springs are connected with the actuating arms 31 through the housing 34 and the projections 36 (Fig. 4) it follows that saidarms will be vibrated at their right ends (Fig. 1) and flexedsomewhere near their left ends where they are attached to the members 28. I

, The vibrations will not besogreat at the left, because they have been damped out, but there will be some vibration that will be transmitted to the sieve-casing H in the vertical direction,

ating arms, 31, these arms offering an outlet for another portion of the gyratory impulses which are thus resolved into horizontal reciprocations and are practically unrestricted.

When considering the vertical set of vibrations the arms 31 flex to a degree while the spring members 21, 28'remain stiff, but when considering. the horizontal set of vibrations the actuating arms 31 remain stifi while the spring members 21, 28 fiex. Therefore the springs 35, projections 35, arms 31and spring members 21, 28 constitute an arrangement whereby the gyratory impulses of the motor are converted into damped vertical vibrations of the casing l1 and practically undiminished horizontal reciprocations for shaking the casing and the contents of the sieves. It is to be especially noted that this arrangement prevents said impulses from running wild, so to speak, and confines them to the two well defined paths or directions substantially at right angles to each other. The

frequency of the vibrations or oscillations of the sieves is determined by the speed of the motor and the length of a vibration or oscillation is determined by the distance that the weight members are removed from the shaft. The grain to be cleaned is first deposited in the hopper I5, from whence it passes through the opening I6 in the bottom thereof and onto the top sieve 41.

The opening I6 is of a size to permit the proper flow of grain from the hopper to the sieve 41.

The shaking or vibrating of the sieves 41, aided by the windblast from the fans 46, removes both the coarse material and the light material from the grain, in view of the fact that the coarse material cannot go through the sieves 41 and the light material is blown therefrom by the windblast. The grain passes through the sieves 41 and falls on the sieve 50. The mesh of the screen or sieve 50 is such that the grain deposited thereon will not fall therethrough but that any smaller seeds (commonly called screenings) may pass therethrough. The cleaned grain which remains slides along the screen 50 to the end thereof, from which it falls.

The device may also be utilized for cleaning and separating two kinds of grain which have been grown together. In this case the grains are deposited on the screens 41 and are cleaned in the manner hereinbefore described. The seeds fall through the screens 41 and are deposited on the screen 50. The openings in the screen 50 are such that one of the grains may fall therethrough and the other of the grains will be prevented from falling therethrough. The type of screens 41 and 50 used in the device depend on the kind of grain or grains which it is desired be cleaned or separated. The sieves 41 and 50 may be easily removed and replaced by other sieves, thereby adapting the device for cleaning or separating different kinds of grains. The sieves 41 and 50 may be of any suitable type, of which there are several, and therefore a detailed description of the same is not believed necessary.

While my invention has been shown and described as a grain cleaning or separating device, it will be readily understood that the device may be used in various manners, such as for sifting flour or separating flour and bran. In certain of these connections, it might be found desirable to dispense with the windblast, in which case the fans may be disconnected from the motor shaft. It will also be understood that while I have shown and described my invention according to a certain specific structure, certain modifications may be made in that structure without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

A grain-cleaning device comprising a frame, a sieve-casing, resilient members attached to the casing and the frame to support the casing for reciprocatory motion, at least one actuating arm attached at one end to one of the resilient members, a spring and means by which the spring is mounted on the frame, a motor housing supported on said spring and having a projecting portion resting on the other end of the actuating arm, and a motor mounted in said casing, said motor having a shaft with means to unbalance it upon rotation thereby to gyrate the motor.

EMORY WILLIAM DOUGLASS. 

